A valuable crop since ancient time, hemp has been cultured with its seeds as food, and its fibres, strongest in the plant kingdom, for the production of rope, wagon cover, canvas and sailcloth. Hemp thrives in Canada’s cool climate and can be grown without the use of pesticides, fungicide or herbicides. Industrial hemp and marijuana both belong to the same species, Cannabis sativa, but each has been modified to have different characteristics, hemp for long fibres and fast growth, marijuana for its content of the psychoactive drug, THC. Industrial hemp contains next to no THC. In 1938, the cultivation of hemp was banned by Canada and the U.S.; however, in 1998, new Canadian regulations enabled the licensed commercial cultivation of industrial hemp. Present and potential uses for industrial hemp, besides clothing, are numerous and include: fabricated auto parts; biocomposite, geotextile, wood and paper products; foodstuffs; cosmetics; biomass for fuel, heat-insulation, etc. Industrial hemp absorbs carbon dioxide five times more efficiently than the same acreage of forest and can play a role in the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.